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Oh, hiiiii there! Long, loooong time, no talk. I knew I’d make it back here one of these days. It’s been an interesting and exciting past month around these parts. I’ve happily started to find a groove with my schedule, had a great trip home, spent some time with my favorite little girl [.. and the rest of my family], and spent some QT with the hubs.

Playing piano with my girl.

Learning colors.

Happy to go to an Orioles game with 3 of my favorite people!

During Nathan and my 8 mile hike on Nimitz Trail.

One of my favorite things to do with Nathan is take a walk to the farmers’ market every Saturday. The fruit we’ve been getting lately has been out of this world and I knew I had to put some of it to good use for this month’s Recipe ReDux.

Tucked in a crust, nothing says love from the oven like pie. Whether it’s a twist on the all-American apple pie or a traditional recipe from your home country, give a healthy makeover to your favorite savory or sweet pie recipe.

This dessert came together in just a matter of minutes and is the perfect single-serving size. And the best part? Aside from the peanut butter, of course, is the secret ingredient, chia seeds. They serve as a thickener for the filling and are also a great source of Omega-3 and Omega-6 Fatty Acids, protein, nutrients that help support bone health, such as calcium and magnesium. Happy dessert-ing!

Single Serving PB&J Pie Parfait

Serves 1

Ingredients

5 mini or 1 1/2 regular Reese’s Oreos

3/4 tsp coconut oil

1/2 cup unsweetened cashew milk

1 tbsp chia seed

1 tbsp peanut butter

2 strawberries; sliced

Directions

In a food processor, combine the cashew milk, chia seed, and peanut butter. Set aside in a small bowl for 1-2 hours and allow to thicken.

After the peanut butter mix has thickened, place the Oreos and coconut oil in a food processor and blend until they come together.

Press 1/3 of the mix into a small glass and top with 1/2 of the peanut butter mixture and 1/2 of the strawberry slices.

Sprinkle another 1/3 of the Oreo mix on top with the other 1/2 of the peanut butter mixture and the other sliced strawberry.

I have a chocolate-y treat for you today that you won’t want to pass up. They’re gluten-free, paleo, and sweetened with fruit! Dried plums, to be specific. But don’t go running!

When was the last time you tried a dried plum? They’re delicious! A little sweet, a little tart, and chewy like candy. Not to mention, each serving is just 100 calories, provides 3g of fiber, 293mg of potassium, 16mg of magnesium, and more vitamin K than any other fresh or dried fruit. And in honor of May’s National Osteoporosis Month, why not give them a try?

Almond Butter STUFFED Brownie Bites

Makes 16 brownie bites

Ingredients

3oz. California Dried Plums [about 12-15 dried plums]

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp milk [I used cashew milk]

2 tbsp unsweetened applesauce

2 tbsp coconut oil; melted

1/4 cup + 1 tbsp almomd butter; divided

1 egg

1/4 cup coconut flour

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

For the Frosting

1/4 cup chocolate nut butter*

2-4 tbsp milk

*If you don’t have chocolate nut butter, you can sub regular nut butter and add cocoa powder. You will need to increase the amount of milk if you do this.

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Place the dried plums in a food processor and process into a paste. You may need to stop and scrape the sides down a few times.

Add the vanilla, milk, applesauce, coconut oil, and 1/4 cup almond butter to the bowl and process until smooth.

Add in the egg and pulse a few times until just incorporated.

Add the remaining dry ingredients to the bowl, pulse a few times to get it started, and finish incorporating completely by hand.

Using a 1/2 tbsp, scoop the mix into 16 mini muffin tins.

With a 1/2 tsp, scoop almond butter on top of the brownie bite base.

Finish off with another 1/2 tbsp of the mix to cover the almond butter and place in the oven for 8-9 minutes.

While baking, make your frosting. Add the ingredients to a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 30 seconds. Stir together until smooth.

Remove the bites from the oven and let cool completely before frosting.

Now who wouldn’t want to snack on that today?! And because I can’t make these for my mom today, you should!

Don’t miss out an all of the California Dried Plum recipes from all of the other ReDux-ers!

And, of course, happy mother’s day to my mom! I wish I could be with you today to celebrate how awesome you’ve always been and always are for me. But hey, if you want to come out here again, I have some brownie bites waiting for you!

Food for Thought

Are you a dried plum fan?
How are you celebrating your mother’s day?

Disclosure: I received free samples of California Dried Plums mentioned in this post. By posting this recipe I am entering a recipe contest sponsored by California Dried Plum Board and am eligible to win prizes associated with the contest. I was not compensated for my time.

Thank you all for your wonderful comments on Monday’s post. As I said, I’m working on figuring out my balance with jobs and life and blogging. I had to post today to share my new protein bar recipe. It’s just too good to keep to myself. So why not jump back on the What I Ate Wednesday bandwagon?

[Pre-Workout]
It was 2 for Tuesday yesterday so rather than my usual energy bites, I whipped up a quick protein pancake with 1 scoop protein powder, 1/4 cup egg whites, and 1/4 cup cashew milk and spread a little almond butter on top. While it held me over pretty well for barre, I decided to pop 1/2 banana before I went over to the gym for some cardio.

[Breakfast]
I KNOW I said you don’t need to see another bowl of oatmeal. But this might have just been the best bowl of oatmeal ever. Or maybe I was just so hungry. Yep. Let’s go with the latter.

[Lunch]
I got the hugest bunches of kale and bag of carrots from the farmers’ market on Saturday. I sauteed a bunch of them up with some sugar snaps, turkey meatballs, and buffalo sauce, topped with avocado, quick-pickled beets, and ketchup. Legit. And so filling.

[Afternoon Snack]
HOLY YUM! I’ve been trying to figure out a good recipe to replace my favorite Quest bars and this month’s Recipe ReDux helped to inspire my bars.

Go through your pantry, cupboards, freezer, or fridge; what ‘treasures’ have you found? Pick an ingredient/spice/condiment that’s been hanging out for a while and give it the attention it needs. Share a healthy recipe made using your new-found pantry prize.

We’re pretty much the worst at ever finishing a jar of preserves so why not throw it into a bar? These are just the right amount of sweet and the best part? No baking! That said, if you do decide to broil or bake these babies, they are pretty reminiscent of a Quest bar. Success!

Directions
In a medium bowl, melt the nut butter. Mix in the protein powder, coconut flour, and water. The amount of water used will depend on your other ingredients so add slowly. Mix these ingredients until everything comes together and is slightly sticky. Add in the white chocolate chips and 1 tbsp raspberry preserves.

Line a loaf pan with saran wrap and press the mixture into the pan. Top the mix with a little more raspberry preserves and place in the freezer for about an hour. Remove from the freezer and cut into 6 equal bars. Wrap each bar separately in saran wrap and store in the freezer.

[Dinner]
We can pretend that my dinner looked half as good as the real deal. In reality, I decided to not toss the balls in buffalo, skip the naan, and used cheddar instead of blue cheese. I think it would have turned out better if the falafel had been tossed in buffalo.. or if they were fried. Oh well. You win some, you lose some.

Today is going to be a really exciting Tuesday. Not only do I have my usual link love below, but I also have a delicious recipe and giveaway!

A couple weeks ago, I received a sample of Manitoba Harvest’s Hemp Hearts. If you’re not familiar with hemp hearts, they are shelled hemp seeds that are considered a “superfood.” They provide 10g of plant-based protein and 10g of Omegas per 30g serving. With a slightly nutty flavor, they are great on salads, smoothies, ice cream, oatmeal, and more. I’m personally a fan of rolling some protein bites in hemp seeds for a nutty, sweet treat!

Directions
Grind up the Power O’s and mix in a large bowl with the coconut flour, protein powder, Skoop, & granola.

In a smaller bowl, microwave the nut butter and honey to make mixing easier. Pour over the dry mixture, add in the vanilla extract and mix, allowing the nut butter to cool before adding in the chocolate chips. Mix everything except the hemp hearts until incorporated well.

In a small bowl, measure out the hemp hearts and using a 1/2 tbsp measuring spoon, measure out the bites and roll in the hemp hearts. Store in the freezer for quick and easy snackage!

I received free samples of Cabot Cheese mentioned in this post. By posting this recipe I am entering a recipe challenge sponsored by Cabot Creamery and am eligible to win prizes. I was not additionally compensated for my time.

Superbowl Sunday must be one of the biggest snacking days of the year. All of the chips, dips, wings, pizza, beer, and then some.. it’s amazing to see just how many calories people can consume in a short 4-hour game!

As a part of Recipe ReDux, I took on the challenge of creating a lighter snack for the big game. As I thought about what kind of poppables I love to snack on [whether it’s weird or not..], brussels sprouts came to mind. I could eat a whole tray of roasted brussels right out of the oven without giving it a second thought! And cheesy brussels?Oh yes!

I received a shipment of a variety of Cabot Creamery cheeses but knew that I wanted a bold cheddar to stand up to the flavor of the proscuitto and brussels. Seriously Sharp sounds about right, yes?

Proscuitto-Wrapped Cheesy Brussels Sprouts

Directions
Preheat the oven to 425°F. Toss the brussels sprouts with EVOO and black pepper, place sliced side down on a sheet pan and into the oven. Roast the brussels for 15-20 minutes until they begin to crisp. Remove from the oven and let cool enough to handle.

Turn the oven down to 350°F. Once cooled, place a small slice of cheese on the sprout and wrap with a slice of proscuitto. Place the wrapped brussels onto a baking wrap on top of the sheet pan. Bake for another 20 minutes or until the proscuitto crisps up.

Remove the brussels sprouts from the oven, skewer with a toothpick, and drizzle with balsamic vinegar. If you’d like, add a little more shredded cheese to the top of the brussels sprouts and serve!

A few weeks ago I received an awesome shipment from Adaptogen. They must know me because I didn’t even choose my protein powder flavor and they sent me Chocolate Peanut Butter. How perfect!

I’m always on the lookout for a delicious protein powder that’s good, not only mixed in a smoothie, but simply mixed with water or almond milk too. The name, TastyWHEY, hinted that it would be meeting my requirements and I couldn’t wait to give it a try. Ironically enough, I had an afternoon workout planned that day, as opposed to my normal morning routine, so I scooped it into my new blender bottle immediately after with some coconut almond milk. It was so creamy and tasted like a peanut butter cup! It was nice and smooth too; there’s nothing worse than a gritty protein shake, am I right?

At 160 calories per scoop, this protein powder is a bit higher than what I normally use but the ingredients more than make up for it. TastyWHEY uses a proprietary combination of exceptionally high quality whey protein, along with MCT’s [want to learn more about MCT oil?], low glycemic index carbohydrates, and micronutrients that make the awesome taste that much better. Knowing that what I’m eating or drinking is made from high-quality ingredients has become so much more important to me in the past few years. There’s no doubt that the quality of ingredients has greatly impacted my health and the way I feel on a daily basis.

Back to the taste, though. I couldn’t help but make myself some peanut butter cups. It only seemed appropriate with the flavor I received!

Protein Peanut Butter Cups

Directions
In a small bowl, microwave the coconut oil and maple syrup for 15-20 seconds until liquid. Mix in the protein powder and cocoa powder until smooth. Spoon 1 tsp of the mixture into 3 mini cupcake tins and place in the freezer for 5 minutes until hard.

Once the chocolate mixture has hardened, spoon 1/2 tsp of peanut butter to the center of each cup and cover with the remainder of the chocolate mixture. Place the cups back in the freezer to set. Once set, carefully remove from the cupcake tin with a knife and devour. Or store in the freezer.. your choice 😉

Every year for the holidays, I make my “famous” peanut butter cups. It all started when my mom found a recipe 100 years ago [ok, maybe 20 years ago.. holy crap, has it been that long?!] and we decided to try them out for Thanksgiving. I mean, come on. It’s chocolate and peanut butter.. what could be bad? Over the years, I’ve continued to make them for Thanksgiving, New Years, and sometimes other occasions too.

My peanut butter cups have become more and more refined. I’ve tried adding a bit of sea salt and cinnamon to the tops, some extra chocolate and PB chips, I’ve swapped out the milk chocolate for dark, and the list goes on. When Peanut Butter & Co. contacted me about creating a recipe with their peanut butter and some candy canes, I knew exactly what I wanted to make.

White Chocolate Peppermint Peanut Butter Cups

Makes 12 cups

Ingredients

3/4 cup + 2 tbsp white chocolate chips

3 candy canes

3-4 tbsp Peanut Butter & Co. White Chocolate Wonderful

Will also need 12 mini muffin cups.

Directions

Place your candy canes into a blender or food processor and blend until they’re in very small pieces—almost dust!

In a small microwave-safe bowl, add 1/4 cup white chocolate chips and microwave for 30 seconds. Give it a mix and microwave for another 10-15 seconds. Mix again and add additional 2 tbsp of white chocolate chips and about 1/3 of the crushed candy canes. Mix well until all of the chips are melted.

Spoon about 1/2 tbsp of the white chocolate peppermint mix into the bottom of each of the cups. Shake to flatten and place in the freezer to setup.

While the first layer is cooler, in another small microwave-safe bowl, add 2 tbsp White Chocolate Wonderful peanut butter and microwave 10-15 seconds until the peanut butter is melty.

Take the cups out of the freezer and carefully spoon on layer of peanut butter on top, doing your best to not let it touch any edges! Place the cups back in the freezer.

Once the peanut butter sets up, repeat with another layer of peanut butter, sprinkle with a pinch of your peppermint dust, and place back in the freezer.

Melt your remaining white chocolate and add in another 1/3 of the peppermint dust.

Spoon your white chocolate peppermint mix on top of the peanut butter layers and sprinkle with even more peppermint. Place back in the freezer and let the cups setup completely.

To store, keep the cups in the fridge so they don’t get too soft. When you’re ready to serve, remove the cups from the fridge and let them warm up for about 5 minutes. I promise you, these peanut butter cups won’t last long!

Yep, back on the pumpkin wagon! I guess I never really fell off. But you all know how I feel about my bites and I couldn’t let pumpkin season pass without making a new bite. These are different than my other bites though.. the base is a bit out of the ordinary. Usually I use gobs of peanut butter but this time I went for a different legume—beans.

Before you click the big “X” in the corner, hear me out. When you blend up beans, they become super creamy and because northern beans are mild in flavor, they easily take on the flavor of whatever you mix them with. On top of that, beans are a great source of iron, fiber, potassium, and protein. Sounds like a pretty good base now, huh?

Directions
Place beans and canned pumpkin in a blender or food processor and blend until totally smooth. Remove the mixture from the blender and hand mix in the rest of the ingredients except the graham cracker. Refrigerate the mixture for at least 30 minutes.

After the mixture has cooled, it should be sticky, but easier to roll. In a medium bowl, crush up your graham crackers. Using a 1/2 tbsp measuring spoon, measure out and roll your bites in the graham cracker crumbs. Place the bites in an air tight container and store in the fridge or freezer.

It’s Friday! And it’s ALCS game 1 day! It’s unfortunate that I’m not at all excited about the Orioles 😉

Yesterday was a fun one. It started out slowly [no complaints here!]; I took my time getting ready for the gym, only to decide to pack it in after 20 minutes on the elliptical. I was just not feeling it so I went home and snuggled up with a bowl of oatmeal on the couch. It was a good trade, I’d say. I also had lunch with this gal..

If you don’t know Danica, get with it! She just moved to the bay area a few weeks ago and it was great to finally meet in person. Hooray for transplants! Haha 🙂

Onto the big Friday fun.. Usually I’ll stick with Fitness Friday or Foodie Friday but since I have a couple goodies for you, I decided to pack it all into one post. Boom!

I put this workout together for my client today; one of my biggest challenges with her is creating lots of workouts that she can do at home with little or no equipment. Because I’m a big fan of using weights in a gym, rather than doing body weight workouts at home, this is a bit out of the norm for me. That said, I’m really happy to have this workout now because not only is it great for small spaces [hellooo watching the O’s game in my tiny apartment!], but it’ll be a great workout for when we head home next month too. Pack your bags and get to sweatin’!

Start out with the push ups and make your way around the circle doing 12-15 reps per exercise. Once you get back to the push ups, do a round of the cardio burst. Complete 3 rounds total for a 30-40 minute heart-pounding, sweaty workout.

If the resistance band isn’t feeling quite tough enough for you, there are a couple of options to make it more difficult. First, you can cross the bands in front of you so they make an “X”. If you still want more resistance, step your feet apart a bit. Make sure you feel the burn!

And if you’re hungry after that workout [which you will be!], make yourself a little snack.

DirectionsSpray a microwave safe mug with cooking spray. Mix all of your ingredients together and microwave for 2 – 2 1/2 minutes, until the cake is just set. Top with your favorite toppings [like nut butters] and enjoy!

Nutritional InformationPer mug cake, without toppings

169 Calories / 1g Fat / 11g Carbs / 1g Fiber / 8g Sugar / 24g Protein

Now that I’ve jam-packed some sweat and tasty treats for ya, get your booty movin’ and enjoy your weekend!

Food for Thought

Do you prefer body weight workouts or sweating it out with some weights?
Any fun plans for the weekend?

You all know how much I love my bites. They’re pretty much in every WIAW post and I’ve racked up quite a few recipes! A few weeks ago I was contacted by Skoop asking if I’d like to review one of their 3 powders—A Game, B Strong, or B Lovely. Seeing as I’ve had the chance to try a handful of protein powders, I decided to go the other way and asked to try A Game, their superfood powder.

On their website, they list some of the benefits of this superfood powder including:

Probiotics for gut health

Fights inflammation

10 servings of fruits and vegetables

Fiber to buffer sugar

Phytonutrient rich

Adaptogenic herbs

Clean all-day energy

Antioxidant rich

Immunity boosting

Speeds recovery

I’d never tried anything like this before and it’s hard to argue with those benefits. They offer a Sweetgreens flavor as well as Chocofresh. Skoop not only generously sent me a bag of the Sweetgreens to review, but also a couple samples of B Strong and B Lovely to sample as well [definitely have to try the Chocofresh soon!]. I was surprised to find out that the Sweetgreens A Game, while has a green hue, tastes very much like blueberry/acai. I knew it would be a great addition to some bites and when I saw Lindsay’s Blissful Blueberry Oat Cobbler Healthy Bites[she is the queen of healthy bites, after all], it was a done deal! I put a little twist on the recipe and it came out great.

DirectionsIn a large bowl, mix dry ingredients. Add in the applesauce and nut butter and mix until well combined. Using a 1/2 tbsp measuring spoon, measure out and shape the bites. Store in an air tight container in the fridge or freezer.

Nutritional StatsPer 1/2 tbsp bite

46 Calories / 2g Fat / 6g Carbs / 3g Sugar / 2g Fiber / 2g Protein

I may say this every time, but I think these might be one of my favorite bites yet! I think because of the amount of peanut butter I used, they’re extra creamy, even right out of the freezer. And, as always, they’re a great pre-workout snack.

To top it all off, Skoop is offering all of you 10% off your order! Just enter the code BARR10 at checkout for your discount. Enjoy!